A stage of ancient Roman civilization The Roman Empire

 

Rome used to be a republic for hundreds of years (509 BC - 27 BC), but since the uprising of Spartacus, Rome has entered an era of military rule.

In the first 27 years, the Senate awarded Octavian the title of "Augustus", established the head system, and the Roman Republic was actually replaced by the Roman Empire. The early period of the empire went through the Julia-Claudian Dynasty (27-68 BC), the Flavian Dynasty (69-96), to the Antonine Dynasty (96-192) and the Five Sage Emperors (96-1996- 180) reached its heyday, with national stability and economic prosperity, a period known as the Roman Peace Period.

After the Crisis of the Third Century (235-284), the empire gradually declined amid internal and external troubles. Later, Diocletian implemented the policy of co-governance of the four emperors, until Emperor Constantine reunited the empire, and finally in 395, by Dio After the death of Dorsey I, the empire was divided between two sons, and the Roman Empire has since split into two parts. In August 410, the city of Rome was captured by the Visigoths, and the emperor of the Western Roman Empire became a puppet of a high-ranking general. In 476, the Germanic leader Odoac deposed the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus, and the Western Roman Empire fell. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) was not destroyed until May 29, 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

The Roman Empire is a stage after the ancient Roman civilization entered the imperial era from the original republic era. Although the early emperors did not officially call themselves emperors, they actually had the characteristics of monarchy. The emperor had become a dictatorial ruler, and he monopolized military, judicial, administrative, religious and other powers. In fact, he was no different from an autocratic monarch, so the whole government actually It is run by the emperor.

The end of the Roman Republic was a turbulent time. In 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated, and Octavian was named his heir in his will. At the age of 19, Octavian, who was in the Apollonian army in Greece, learned the news and immediately marched back to Rome. At this time, Rome was in the hands of Brutus and Cassius, the republican senators who murdered Caesar. As a result, Octavian managed to form an alliance with Caesar's colleagues Marc Antony and Lepidus, known as the latter three in history. Then, the three began to clean up the heresy of the Senate, and more than a hundred elders and thousands of knights were killed.

Gaius Octavian After that, Antony and Octavian led an army to pursue Brutus and Cassius, who had fled to the east. In 42 BC, Brutus and Cassius committed suicide in defeat at the Battle of Philippi. Octavian returned to Rome, while Antony went to Egypt, where he formed an alliance with Caesar's lover, Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra). So far, Rome belonged to Octavian in the west and Antony to the east. Antony focused on the Parthian wars in the East, and always maintained a close relationship with the Queen of Egypt.

As a result, Octavian built up people's hearts in Rome to consolidate his power, and at the same time slandered Antony, calling him a rebellion against Rome. The conflict between the two sides has become increasingly fierce. Finally, in the first 32 years, Octavian declared war on Antony.

In September 31 BC, the combined forces of Antony and the Queen of Egypt fought Octavian at Cape Actium in Greece, known as the Battle of Actium in history. As a result, Antony was defeated and fled back to Egypt with the queen. In the first 30 years, Octavian invaded Egypt, Anthony and the queen committed suicide one after another, and Caesarion, the illegitimate son of the queen and Caesar, was executed, and the Ptolemaic dynasty perished. So far, Egypt became a province of Rome.

In the first 27 years, Octavian cleverly used his political skills to claim to abolish all power and restore the republic; on the other hand, he pretended to be forced by the senate and the citizens to accept the absolute power that was completely contrary to the republic, and became the chief elder ( That is, the head of state, from which the head of state system comes), the highest consul, life-long consul, life-long tribune, high priest, etc., claiming to be "first citizen", supreme commander (or translated as "victory general", "grand marshal") , and received the titles of "Augustus" (meaning "Holy") and "Father of the Fatherland" (later emperors also had these titles) from the Senate. This wonderful performance by Octavian announced the founding of the Roman Empire.

 

During Octavian's reign, he reformed the military, reduced armaments, and established the empire's first standing army and guards; set up a cabinet to assist the emperor in handling government affairs; established the "National Taxation Bureau" to oversee financial power; reorganized the administration Division, dividing the province of the Senate and the province of the emperor, in order to establish the emperor's highest military power. Octavian established friendly relations with Parthia and Armenia diplomatically. 19 years ago, conquered all of Spain. From the first 16 years, troops were sent to the east of the Alps and the upper Danube to set up two provinces of Rhaetian and Norric, and then they sent troops to the middle and lower reaches of the Danube to set up two provinces of Pannonia and Misia. From 12 to 5 years before, gradually conquered the land between the Rhine and the Elbe. But the newly conquered lands continued to riot. In 9 years, the general Varus was ambushed in the battle of the Teutonic Fort Forest to suppress the German uprising, and Octavian had to give up the land between the Rhine and the Elbe. Expansion stopped. Octavian did not carry out any major conquests, and the next hundred years was a long period of stability, called the "Roman Peace" period.

In 14 years, Octavian died and succeeded his adopted son Tiberius. In order to strengthen the imperial power, Tiberius abolished the legislative and electoral rights of the Citizens Assembly, and concentrated the guards to Rome to defend the emperor. Tiberius had a ruthless and strict personality, and he acted arbitrarily in the later period of his reign. He repeatedly sanctioned the words and deeds of opposing or criticizing the emperor, requiring the Senate to only express the same opinion as him, and the relationship between the Senate and the family was tense. He retired to Capri in 26, and ruled Rome there for nearly ten years. In 37, Tiberius died of a disease in Capri.

After Tiberius died, the Guard made Caligula emperor. This was the first time in Roman history that an army had established an emperor. In the early days of his reign, Caligula was generous and generous, and was universally loved by the people. In the later period, he suddenly suffered from mental illness, ignored state affairs, indulged in entertainment activities, and was moody, brutal and murderous. He often executed members of the Senate and nobles and confiscated their property. For 40 years, he spoke in Rome advocating personal dictatorship and deifying emperors. In 41, Caligula was killed by the Guards.

After Nero Caligula's death, the Guard installed his elderly uncle Claudius on the throne. During the reign of Claudius, he reformed government agencies and established a bureaucratic system: there were three central departments, namely the Secretariat (in charge of internal affairs, military affairs, and foreign affairs), the Finance Department (in charge of finance) and the Judicial Department (in charge of law). , and improved the status of knighthood, and granted Roman citizenship to the residents of the province, so that the provincial nobles could also serve as high officials or enter the Senate. In terms of external expansion, it has newly conquered southern Britain and Mauritania. Claudius also built the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber and a massive water pipeline. In 54, Claudius was probably poisoned by the Empress Agrippina the Younger.

After Claudius died, his adopted son Nero came to the throne. During Nero's reign, he formulated a number of policies that benefited the civilian population; he appointed the famous general Kolbro to successfully resolve the Parthian and Armenian crises. But at the same time, he is also a famous tyrant in Roman history, cruel and tyrannical, killing his mother and killing his wife. He is passionate about art and calls himself a "great entertainer". In 1964, a fire broke out in Rome and almost the entire city was destroyed. Nero started building a new palace after the fire, called the "Golden Palace". Rumors circulated in Rome that Nero set fire to build a new palace. In order to eliminate rumors, Nero used Christians as scapegoats to hunt and kill (St. Peter, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, died in this event). In 1966, the Jewish War broke out in Palestine. At this time, Nero went to Greece for a long artistic tour. Due to Nero's failure, uprisings against Nero broke out everywhere. In March 1968, Vindix, the governor of Gaul, and Galba, the governor of Spain, rebelled. In May, Windyx was defeated and killed. At this point, the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the state. Nero committed suicide while fleeing.

 

After Trajan's death, Hadrian came to the throne. Hadrian switched from attack to defense, abandoning the lands that Trajan had conquered in the east. During Hadrian's reign, he toured many times, and his footprints covered almost the entire empire. During this period, he built the "Hadrian's Wall" in the northern part of the British Isle to defend against the invasion of barbarians in Scotland; unified the recruitment standards, strengthened the quality of the army, and established a temporary army system. Hadrian transitioned the Führer system to an absolute monarchy, with the emperor's will as the supreme law, ordered jurists to compile the "Permanent Edict" as the legal basis of the empire; vigorously strengthened the knighthood and made it a specific bureaucratic class; continued And strengthened the Romanization of the province, narrowing the distance between the provincial city and Rome; he also rebuilt the famous Pantheon in Rome. In 131, Hadrian banned Jews from circumcision, the Sabbath and the reading of the Jewish law, which triggered a Jewish uprising. The Roman army took two years to massacre 580,000 Jews to suppress the uprising. Hadrian forbade Jews to live in Jerusalem, and a large number of Jews have never settled there. Hadrian attached great importance to the issue of heirs. He chose a 52-year-old member of parliament, Antoine Pius, as his adopted son, and asked him to adopt 18-year-old members Marcus Aurelius and 7-year-old Verus as adopted sons.

In 138, Hadrian died and his adopted son Anthony Pius took the throne. During the reign of Antoine Pius, he closed the border to the outside world and was generally fine; he cared about the internal affairs and the people, had a good relationship with the Senate, and the treasury had a lot of income. Rome enjoyed more than 20 years of peace and prosperity.

In 161, Antoine Pius died and the throne was succeeded by his two adopted sons, Verus and Marcus Aurelius.

For the first time in Roman history, Anthony Pius ruled between two emperors. Marcus Aurelius is the famous "Philosopher Emperor", is the main expounder of Stoic philosophy, author of "Meditations". Verus is mediocre. When the two ascended the throne, the situation on the borders of the empire was dire, with Parthians invading Armenia in 162, Verus fighting off the Parthians for four years, and annexing Mesopotamia between 164 and 165. In 167, the Germans invaded again, and the two emperors had to lead an army to conquer. Due to financial constraints, the emperor sold the crown jewels to raise army salaries. In 169, Verus died and the empire was restored to the status of an emperor. Marcus Aurelius relieved the Germans from pressure on the empire and allowed them to settle on the borders of the empire, laying the groundwork for future barbarian invasions. In 175, the general Arvidius Cassius launched a rebellion in the eastern part of the empire. After the rebellion was quelled, Marcus Aurelius started the war against the Germans again, trying to annex Bohemia, and in 180, just as he was about to succeed, Marcus Aurelius died of illness in the army.

Marcus Aurelius was a relatively great emperor. He was diligent in government and loved the people and actively handled government affairs during his reign. However, he made a huge mistake on the issue of succession, that is, appointing his son Commodus as the heir to the throne, and Pulling the seedlings encourages him to handle political affairs with himself, laying the groundwork for the crisis of the third century. After his death, the Roman Empire gradually began to decline.

Commodus did not dare to indulge in the early days of his reign, and he respected the elders who Marcus Aurelius appointed to assist him during his lifetime. In 182, his sister Ruchira and some elders tried to assassinate him. After the incident, he executed everyone who participated in the assassination and many innocent people. From then on, Commodus no longer trusted the elders, and left all political affairs to the favored ministers and the commander of the Guard. In the later period, he was cruel and suspicious, and he loved sports such as circus and wrestling. Commodus's rule caused dissatisfaction among the people, and many people plotted to assassinate him, which also made him more eccentric and tyrannical. On New Year's Day 193, when Commodus announced that he was going to be the consul of the year in gladiator attire, his mistress drank him a glass of poisoned wine, and he was subsequently murdered by a wrestler sent by the commander of the Guards.

After Commodus died, the Guards established the city governor Petinax, and Petinax actively quelled the negative influence Commodus brought to the empire, but when he wanted to clean up the military, he was immediately killed by the Guards. After the death of Petinax, the Guards announced that the throne would be auctioned off, and the one who made the most bids could become the emperor. After competition among many people, Julianus bought the throne at a price that the Guards were satisfied with. But Julianus did not have a single follower, and the army treated him with disdain. The governor of Syria, Nigel, took the lead in proposing himself as emperor. Then, the governor of Pannonia, Severus, a North African, rebelled. He led his troops on a rapid march and quickly marched towards Rome. The morale of the guards was low and they were quickly defeated. The Senate instead declared Severus emperor. The Guards executed Julianus for Severus' forgiveness. After Severus entered Rome, he executed all the original guards on the charge of treason, and formed a larger new guard with his own soldiers.

After Severus became emperor, he immediately went to war with Nigel, who had already become emperor. In 194, Nigel was defeated at Issus. In 197, Severus defeated the rebellious British Governor Albanus in Lyon, ending the civil war from 193.

Severus was a soldier, and he was used to acting arbitrarily. He ignored the senate, removed many elders from important positions, and replaced them with knights without culture. Severus' rule was backed by the army, and he expanded the Roman army to an unprecedented degree, most of them were foreigners; . Severus achieved no small success militarily, in addition to ending the civil war, he defeated Parthia in 197 and annexed Mesopotamia again. Severus raised the imperial power to the highest level, and his jurists said that "he is not bound by all laws, he is the master of any man, and the empire is his property". In 208, Severus sent troops to Britain without much progress. In 211, he died in York. His last words to his two sons on his deathbed were: "May your brothers live in harmony, let the soldiers all get rich, and leave the others alone."

Caracalla

After Severus died, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, ascended the throne at the same time, and the following year, Caracalla killed Geta. Caracalla was again a tyrant, killing his younger brother and his comrades, as well as his wife, father-in-law and many famous people. Caracalla continued to implement Severus' policy of preferential treatment of the army. In order to increase revenue and expand tax sources, Caracalla issued the Edict of Caracalla in 212, granting all free people in the empire Roman citizenship. In 217, Caracalla was killed by the Guards while on his expedition to Parthia.

After Caracalla was killed, the commander of the guard, Macrinus, proclaimed himself emperor, and his son Diadumenian was co-emperor. After Macrinus took the throne, he accepted extremely unfavorable terms, ended the war with Parthia, and cut military spending, causing dissatisfaction with the army. In 218, Severus' sister-in-law, Julia Misa, instigated a rebellion, and Macrinus and Diadumenian were both killed in Asia Minor. Misa made his thirteen-year-old grandson, Elagabalus, emperor.

Elagabalus worshipped the gods of the East, and was reckless, ignorant of state affairs, and had a very poor relationship with the Senate and the army. In 222, Misa acquiesced to the guards to kill him and made another 14-year-old grandson, Alexandre Severus, emperor. Relations with the Senate improved under Alexandre Severus. In 231, Alexander Severus went to the east to fight against the Sassanid Persians, the situation improved slightly, and rushed to the west to resist the Germans. In 235, the army rebelled and Alexandre Severus was killed.

After the death of Alexander Severus, the army made Maximinus emperor. Maximinus was of humble origin and was despised, so he treated the senate and the people with brutality. In 238, the Senate secretly instructed the Guards to kill him. In the same year, the Senate introduced four emperors, all of whom were killed. Gordian III, who then ascended the throne, was only 13 years old and was a puppet of the Guards. In 244, the army supported the Arab Philip. During his reign, the 1000th anniversary of the founding of Rome was celebrated. In 249, the Arab Philip was killed by the rebel general Decius. Decius was killed in a war with the Goths in 251. During the reign of Gallus, who ascended the throne, broke out again

Posthumus suffered a persistent plague. Gallus died at the hands of soldiers in 253. Valerian and Gallienus, who came to the throne, led two large armies, one against the Persians in the east and the other against the Germans in the west, which was the first to divide the empire from east to west. In 259, the general of the Rhine region, Postumus, proclaimed himself emperor and established the Gallic Empire, including Gaul, Britain, and most of Spain. In 260, Valerian was captured while fighting the Persians, with unknown results. In 267, Palmyra in the east became independent, splitting off part of the eastern provinces. At this time, the chaos of the Roman Empire reached its peak, and the central government was almost paralyzed. The emperor not only had to face external enemies, but also suppressed the army and the people who revolted from time to time. In addition, the army continued to support new emperors, expecting more rewards, and if the rewards were not generous, the emperor would be killed. In 268, Gallienus reformed the military, relieved other duties of the military, and established a new reserve army, stationed in Milan, and made Milan the military capital of the empire. The reformed army succeeded in defeating the Ostrogoths. In 269, the Bagua movement broke out in Gaul, where slaves and slave farmers revolted. The insurgents established themselves as emperors and minted coins, which lasted until 286.